The Eakins Special a.k.a. The Beale Street Special featured on the
cover of Nickel Music and other albums is, indeed, a Coinola Reproduco
modified to add percussion and play "O" rolls. It was located near
the entrance to the Gay 90's Museum owned by Eakins and was reportedly
quite a crowd pleaser. It was also featured on "What's My Line" and
"I've Got a Secret". It then went into the Disney collection and then
I bought it and restored it a couple of years ago. Pictures and sound
tracks of the instrument are on several record albums. It is a
terrific sounding instrument and, because of the visibility of the
percussion, it continues to be a favorite with our house guests and
visitors.
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